Miami Police Upgrade to AR-15s

The City of Miami Police department has decided to purchase $101,332.64 worth of AR-15 style Bushmaster rifles, 148 rifle sights, and various other related supplies.After the Pulse nightclub shootings, the same police department ordered more than $300,000 worth of body armor. Police departments in South Florida have been requesting upgrades to weapons, body armor and other equipment ever since the June 12 Orlando night club terror attack, when 49 people were killed by Omar Mateen. Mateen had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and utilized a Sig Sauer MCX rifle, which is an AR-15 variant.

Miami Police Choose Bushmaster AR-15 Carbines

Two weeks later, the Miami Police sent out a request for 148 new Bushmaster XM15 QRC rifles. The rifles will costs the city $70,018.80, or $488.90 per rifle.No word yet on how the police department managed to save nearly $200 per unit off retail, but it does appear that they got a fantastic deal on the rifles.The department also requested 148 sets of back up front and rear sights, 444 magazines, and 148 hand guards.The police department’s attempts to procure what some in the public see as “military-grade” equipment (although AR-15’s are widely available to civilians in the United States) have rubbed some Floridians the wrong way.Horacio Stuart Aguirre, head of a panel that investigates complaints against police, said that the request for body armory concerned him."It troubles me," he told New Times. "I believe every man and woman has the right to go home alive. That includes police, but it also includes you and me, especially the not so wealthy, not so good-looking, or not so well-versed in social niceties."The Bushmaster XM15 QRC Quick Response Carbine is a budget, entry-level M4-style AR-15 with plastic handguards and a standard M4 stock and A2 pistol grip. It retails for around $650.The Firearm Blog posted a review of the rifle which, despite its modest price point, rings steel out to 600 yards and is generally-well made.

Get more Grit! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter.